Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 56.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Welltower were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,187,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,333,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257,213 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,731,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,104,064 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $2,453,039,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Welltower by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,012,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,173,337,000 after acquiring an additional 87,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Welltower by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,986,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,141,000 after acquiring an additional 99,314 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WELL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $96.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.88.

Insider Transactions at Welltower

In other Welltower news, Director Kenneth J. Bacon sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total transaction of $187,038.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,514,903.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

WELL stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $112.15. The company had a trading volume of 2,472,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,679,013. The firm has a market cap of $68.32 billion, a PE ratio of 138.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a current ratio of 4.07. Welltower Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.38 and a 12 month high of $115.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.09.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. Welltower’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Welltower Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 301.23%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a REIT and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.